The best anxiety books give you relief from your struggles with anxious thoughts, phobias, panic attacks, and social anxiety. Similar to our roundups of the best books about bipolar disorder and the best books about schizophrenia, this list of the best books about anxiety is a mix of workbooks, books about exciting and effective treatment methods, guided journals, and personal memoirs about anxiety. By consulting these anxiety books for adults, you’ll find a pathway to a better, calmer, more positive frame of mind.
And now for our list of the 20 best anxiety books…
The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne
Long considered the best anxiety workbook, Edmund J. Bourne’s The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook will have you processing your anxiety and resolving it ASAP. By working through this guide, you’ll challenge your anxiety and learn how to overcome it with effective exercises, thoughtful prompts, and helpful experiments. If you’re serious about alleviating your anxiety issues, definitely check out this one that definitely ranks among the best anxiety books.
How to read it: Purchase The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook on Amazon
The Anxiety Journal by Corinne Sweet
Part of the focus in this list of the best anxiety books is on workbooks and guided journals because I think it’s important to not just talk about minimizing your anxiety but actually go through the steps. To that end, Corinne Sweet’s The Anxiety Journal is a must-have with anyone hoping to overcome anxiety, phobias, panic attacks, and social anxiety. But if you’re just a casual worrier, you’ll also find relief with this guided journal that focuses on teaching you how to battle anxiety using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
How to read it: Purchase The Anxiety Journal on Amazon
Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief by Claire Bidwell Smith
This groundbreaking anxiety book alleges a novel revelation, that anxiety and grief are intertwined. Author Claire Bidwell Smith shows how closely these two conditions feed off of each other, with anxiety underlying grief and vice versa. Smith’s book will have you working to resolve the missing piece of your anxiety puzzle, grief, and, in turn, processing grief to alleviate anxiety.
How to read it: Purchase Anxiety: The Stages of Grief on Amazon
The Anxiety Toolkit by Alice Boyes
The Anxiety Toolkit is right for you if you want to build up an arsenal of coping mechanisms for when you’re dealing with anxiety. This book is all about helping you learn strategies to conquer anxiety, such as getting past rumination, challenging your perfectionism, and how to finally get over your avoidance for good. This book will definitely put you on the fast track to alleviating your anxiety.
How to read it: Purchase The Anxiety Toolkit on Amazon
Be Calm by Jill P. Weber
Be Calm introduces anxiety sufferers to methods that will help you reclaim your power and silence your anxiety. Drawing on an interdisciplinary synthesis of three therapy modalities—cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness therapy—Dr. Jill Weber weaves together a bevy of therapeutic approaches to help you achieve a state of calm. In Be Calm, you’ll discover how to start journaling, uncover the physiological basis of anxiety, and tackle insomnia.
How to read it: Purchase Be Calm on Amazon
The Big Activity Book for Anxious People by Jordan Reid and Erin Williams
This “activity book” is designed for anxious people in mind. Irreverent, funny, and seriously relaxing, The Big Activity Book for Anxious People has everything from quizzes to coloring book pages to guided prompts, like naming your “top 5 biggest, most irrational fears.” You will get the chance to do word association exercises and read comforting facts about airplanes. You won’t want to miss this anxiety book that will help you work through your anxiety while also having fun.
How to read it: Purchase The Big Activity Book for Anxious People on Amazon
Dare by Barry McDonagh
Dare was only published in 2015, but it’s already made a significant contribution to the field that counts it as one of the best anxiety books. This book introduces psychology expert Barry McDonagh’s proven way to teach people how to move past their anxiety using the radical DARE method. If you’ve felt like you’ve struggled to connect with other books about anxiety and need to shake up your strategy, definitely pick up the challenging-but-rewarding Dare. As a bonus, this book has a companion app and four audio recordings for quick relief.
How to read it: Purchase Dare on Amazon
Declutter Your Mind by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport
I love the title of this one: Declutter Your Mind. Because that’s exactly what anxiety does to you, it clutters up your mind with anxious thoughts, making it next to impossible to think clearly. If that sounds like your experience, you’ll definitely want to check out Declutter Your Mind, one of the best anxiety books. Authors S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport approach treating anxiety with mindfulness therapy and help you declutter your thinking in multiple capacities, like decluttering your thoughts, your life obligations, your relationships, and your surroundings. This is one of the best books about anxiety because Scott and Davenport just get it; it definitely feels like reading this book is as good or better than a course of traditional therapy.
How to read it: Purchase Declutter Your Mind on Amazon
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Anxiety by Alexander Chapman, Kim L. Gratz, and Matthew T. Tull
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or “DBT,” was initially designed to help people suffering from borderline personality disorder, but, since then, psychologists have noticed DBT skills can also apply to other types of mental health challenges, like anxiety. In The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Anxiety, you’ll learn several key strategies for harnessing the power of DBT to overcome your anxiety. These methods include using DBT mindfulness, distress tolerance skills, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills. DBT is a groundbreaking method to treat anxiety that works for people who just haven’t connected with other therapy models. And what’s even better about this book is you get to put into practice what you’ve learned right away. The authors also spend chapters on different issues like stress, trauma, panic, obsessions and compulsions, and social anxiety. This is without question among the best self help anxiety books.
How to read it: Purchase The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Anxiety
Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind by Jennifer Sharon
Anyone who has anxiety can relate to the title of this book, which refers to the anxious brain as “the monkey mind.” This book is all about learning how to stop feeding your monkey mind by breaking the toxic cycle of anxiety, fear, and worry. The approach author Jennifer Sharon takes to this objective is with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindfulness therapy. Readers who go through the exercises in this book will help you identify the sources of your anxiety, question your anxious thoughts, and discover the core fears that form the origin of your anxiety. With fun illustrations, Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind is a judgment-free, unique approach to treating your anxiety so you stop feeding your monkey mind. Read it and see why it belongs on this list of the best self help books for anxiety and depression.
How to read it: Purchase Don’t Feed the Monkey Mind on Amazon
Essential Strategies for Social Anxiety by Alison McKleroy
I have crippling social anxiety, so I’m so happy to feature one of the best social anxiety books in this list of the best anxiety books. In Essential Strategies for Social Anxiety, Alison McKleroy offers a deep dive into treating anxiety of the social nature. McKleroy’s book includes actionable exercises to start talking back to your socially anxious mind through calming both your mind and your body, quieting your inner critic, and reworking negative thoughts into positive ones. If you’re trapped in the prison of social anxiety and it’s hurting your life, it’s time to seek outside help, and starting with this book is one way to kick off your healing process.
How to read it: Purchase Essential Strategies for Social Anxiety on Amazon
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson
This book is nothing short of amazon and definitely one of the best books about anxiety and overthinking. Lifelong anxiety sufferer Sarah Wilson, an entrepreneur and bestselling author, scrutinizes her anxious habits and the collective anxiety with which people all over the world struggle. Wilson interviews people plagued with anxious challenges, the psychologists and other healers trying to help people cope, and even philosophers, like the Dalai Lama on anxiety. Wilson sifts the through various trends in treatments, trying to crack the case of anxiety. Ultimately, Wilson argues that anxiety is a spiritual quest to find peace, calm, and balance. You won’t want to miss this quietly powerful read, among the best anxiety books.
How to read it: Purchase First, We Make the Beast Beautiful on Amazon
Hardcore Self-Help: F**k Anxiety by Robert Duff
The truth is, an awful lot of self-help books just suck… either they are frustratingly vague, overly complicated, or patronizing to readers. That’s definitely not the approach to battling to anxiety you’ll find in Robert Duff’s Hardcore Self-Help: F**k Anxiety. This unconventional “anti self-help” book talks to you like you’re a peer and friend rather than a victim. Robert Duff offers BS-free actionable exercises, practical advice, and real talk about dealing with anxiety, often using profanity, humor, and candor. This read is especially one of the best books for anxiety in your 20s.
How to read it: Purchase Hardcore Self-Help: F**k Anxiety on Amazon
Hope and Help for Your Nerves by Claire Weekes
This classic guide to beating your anxious thoughts definitely ranks high on any list of the best books about anxiety. Dr. Claire Weekes has assembled an effective, step-by-step approach to defeating anxiety in one of the best selling anxiety books. Following the Hope and Help for Your Nerves method means analyzing your anxious thoughts, using skills to talk back to your negative thinking, and freeing yourself from the paralyzing prison of anxiety. There’s a reason why this book, which was originally published in 1969, is still in print today: the program works.
How to read it: Purchase Hope and Help for Your Nerves on Amazon
My Age of Anxiety by Scott Stossel
Perhaps the definitive memoir of anxiety, My Age of Anxiety is one of the best books about anxiety. Scott Stossel chronicles his disabling anxiety that has followed him his whole life. Anyone who suffers from anxiety will doubtless see themselves in Stossel’s experiences and cheer for him as he searches for a better peace of mind and a greater understanding of how anxiety has been a threat for the entirety of the human experience. Endearing, witty, and emotionally visceral, this hopeful memoir takes its place among the best anxiety books.
How to read it: Purchase My Age of Anxiety on Amazon
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
I’m a huge fan of Matt Haig’s novel The Midnight Library, so it should be no surprise that I also love his nonfiction books about anxiety and depression. In this one, Notes on a Nervous Planet, surely one of the best depression and anxiety books, Haig sets out to make readers see how our contemporary experience aggravates our anxiety and panic. With the onslaught of doom scrolling, superficial social media, digital fear mongering, and other technology driven stressors, it’s no surprise we are living in an era of anxiety. But don’t despair! Haig offers actually helpful strategies to deal with modern life and make it work for you with less anxiety and worries. This hopeful book tops the list of must-read best anxiety books.
How to read it: Purchase Notes on a Nervous Planet on Amazon
On Edge: A Journey Through Anxiety by Andrea Peterson
This memoir belongs in the category of the best anxiety books. A harrowing read, On Edge details author Andrea Peterson’s grueling personal history of anxiety. But Peterson doesn’t stop there; this book is also an in-depth look at the status of anxiety today: which treatments work, which don’t, and where to find hope if you’re looking for it. In this way, On Edge has the perfect balance of both Peterson’s singular experience and the greater specter of anxiety in society. It’s an uplifting, powerful argument that we can fight back when anxiety is fighting our thoughts.
How to read it: Purchase On Edge on Amazon
Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks by Seth J. Gillihan
So you want your anxiety to stop and stop it right now? If so, pick up Dr. Seth J. Gillihan’s Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks. This engaging, effective workbook belongs on any list that boasts of including the best self help books for anxiety and depression. Dr. Gillihan’s book is designed to be a crash course in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for people suffering from anxiety and/or depression. This is pure, unflinching CBT. Given that CBT can really help quell anxiety (speaking from my personal and observed experiences), you’ll definitely get a lot of help from this book. But be prepared for CBT boot camp. If you show up ready to work and do the exercises, you might start seeing results on Gillihan’s seven-week suggested schedule. No matter what, you’ll learn key takeaways for winning your war against anxiety in Retrain Your Brain, one of the best books for anxiety and overthinking.
How to read it: Purchase Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks on Amazon
Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer
Anxiety has been around since the dawn of time, but modern science is fighting back with new techniques and methods in busting anxiety and healing people who have been dealing with this mental illness. In Unwinding Anxiety, among the best selling anxiety books, Dr. Judson Brewer translates some of the most promising scientific breakthroughs in treating anxiety into actionable advice, including how to defeat anxiety habit loops, map your brain to learn your triggers, discover how to use a practice of curiosity as a weapon against anxiety, and adopting mindfulness techniques to calm your anxious mind. Full of little hacks that make a big difference, Unwinding Anxiety is one of the best self help anxiety books on the market today.
How to read it: Purchase Unwinding Anxiety on Amazon
When Panic Attacks by David D. Burns
Our final entry in this list of the best anxiety books is When Panic Attacks. In this book, author Dr. David D. Burns offers a way through anxiety without medication. Dr. Burns backs his tactics for managing anxiety with research that shows it’s possible to get help with your anxiety without turning to medicine. Many people are wary of taking psychopharmaceuticals, and if this sounds like you, it’s definitely worth checking out When Panic Attacks as a treatment method that’s drug free. Dr. Burns will train you in the cognitive model, the exposure model, and the hidden emotion model of strategies for combatting anxiety. You’ll come away with from it with a better understand of how to move your mind out of anxiety and into a healthier, calmer, and more balanced form of peace.
